Experimental Investigations and Pareto Optimization of Fiber Laser Cutting Process of Ti6Al4V

In the current study, laser cutting of Ti6Al4V was accomplished using Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array (OA). Laser power, cutting speed, and gas pressure were selected as input process parameters, whereas surface roughness (SR), kerf width, dross height, and material removal rate (MRR) were considered as output variables. The effects of input variables were analyzed through the analysis of variance (ANOVA), main effect plots, residual plots, and contour plots. A heat transfer search algorithm was used to optimize the parameters for the single objective function including higher MRR, minimum SR, minimum dross, and minimum kerf. A multi-objective heat transfer search algorithm was used to create non-dominant optimal Pareto points, giving unique optimal solutions with the corresponding input parameters. For better understanding and ease of selection of input parameters in industry and by scientists, a Pareto graph (2D and 3D graph) is generated from the Pareto points.

An Efficient Multi-Objective Robust Optimization Method by Sequentially Searching From Nominal Pareto Solutions

Multi-objective optimization problems (MOOPs) with uncertainties are common in engineering design. To find robust Pareto fronts, multi-objective robust optimization (MORO) methods with inner–outer optimization structures usually have high computational complexity, which is a critical issue. Generally, in design problems, robust Pareto solutions lie somewhere closer to nominal Pareto points compared with randomly initialized points. The searching process for robust solutions could be more efficient if starting from nominal Pareto points. We propose a new method sequentially approaching to the robust Pareto front (SARPF) from the nominal Pareto points where MOOPs with uncertainties are solved in two stages. The deterministic optimization problem and robustness metric optimization are solved in the first stage, where nominal Pareto solutions and the robust-most solutions are identified, respectively. In the second stage, a new single-objective robust optimization problem is formulated to find the robust Pareto solutions starting from the nominal Pareto points in the region between the nominal Pareto front and robust-most points. The proposed SARPF method can reduce a significant amount of computational time since the optimization process can be performed in parallel at each stage. Vertex estimation is also applied to approximate the worst-case uncertain parameter values, which can reduce computational efforts further. The global solvers, NSGA-II for multi-objective cases and genetic algorithm (GA) for single-objective cases, are used in corresponding optimization processes. Three examples with the comparison with results from the previous method are presented to demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed method.

An Efficient Multi-Objective Robust Optimization Method by Sequentially Searching From Nominal Pareto Solutions

Multi-objective optimization problems (MOOPs) with uncertainties are common in engineering design problems. To find the robust Pareto fronts, multi-objective robust optimization methods with inner-outer optimization structures generally have high computational complexity, which is always an important issue to address. Based on the general experience, robust Pareto solutions usually lie somewhere near the nominal Pareto points. Starting from the obtained nominal Pareto points, the search process for robust solutions could be more efficient. In this paper, we propose a method that sequentially approaching to the robust Pareto front (SARPF) from the nominal Pareto points. MOOPs are solved by the SARPF in two optimization stages. The deterministic optimization problem and the robustness metric optimization problem are solved in the first stage, and nominal Pareto solutions and the robust-most solutions can be found respectively. In the second stage, a new single-objective robust optimization problem is formulated to find the robust Pareto solutions starting from the nominal Pareto points in the region between the nominal Pareto front and the robust-most points. The proposed SARPF method can save a significant amount of computation time since the optimization process can be performed in parallel at each stage. Vertex estimation is also applied to approximate the worst-case uncertain parameter values which can save computational efforts further. The global solvers, NSGA-II for the multi-objective case and genetic algorithm (GA) for the single-objective case, are used in corresponding optimization processes. Two examples with comparison to a previous method are presented for the applicability and efficiency demonstration.

Necessary and Sufficient Optimality Conditions for Vector Equilibrium Problems on Hadamard Manifolds

The aim of this paper is to show the existence and attainability of Karush–Kuhn–Tucker optimality conditions for weakly efficient Pareto points for vector equilibrium problems with the addition of constraints in the novel context of Hadamard manifolds, as opposed to the classical examples of Banach, normed or Hausdorff spaces. More specifically, classical necessary and sufficient conditions for weakly efficient Pareto points to the constrained vector optimization problem are presented. The results described in this article generalize results obtained by Gong (2008) and Wei and Gong (2010) and Feng and Qiu (2014) from Hausdorff topological vector spaces, real normed spaces, and real Banach spaces to Hadamard manifolds, respectively. This is done using a notion of Riemannian symmetric spaces of a noncompact type as special Hadarmard manifolds.

Efficient Gradient-Based Algorithms for the Construction of Pareto Fronts

The objective of this study is to develop and assess a gradient-based algorithm that efficiently traverses the Pareto front for multi-objective problems. We use high-fidelity, computationally intensive simulation tools (for eg: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element (FE) structural analysis) for function and gradient evaluations. The use of evolutionary algorithms with these high-fidelity simulation tools results in prohibitive computational costs. Hence, in this study we use an alternate gradient-based approach. We first outline an algorithm that can be proven to recover Pareto fronts. The performance of this algorithm is then tested on three academic problems: a convex front with uniform spacing of Pareto points, a convex front with non-uniform spacing and a concave front. The algorithm is shown to be able to retrieve the Pareto front in all three cases hence overcoming a common deficiency in gradient-based methods that use the idea of scalarization. Then the algorithm is applied to a practical problem in concurrent design for aerodynamic and structural performance of an axial turbine blade. For this problem, with 5 design variables, and for 10 points to approximate the front, the computational cost of the gradient-based method was roughly the same as that of a method that builds the front from a sampling approach. However, as the sampling approach involves building a surrogate model to identify the Pareto front, there is the possibility that validation of this predicted front with CFD and FE analysis results in a different location of the “Pareto” points. This can be avoided with the gradient-based method. Additionally, as the number of design variables increases and/or the number of required points on the Pareto front is reduced, the computational cost favors the gradient-based approach.